Start and stop signal for railroad-cars.



R. H. GA'RTMELL.

START AND STOP SIGNAL POR RAlLROAD GARS.

AvPLwATxoN rlLnD mim, 1914.

1,120,025. l Patented DCC. 8, 1914.

u lllu URNEY j object the provision 'of a' system which coni- Y RYAfLL H. CABTMELL, or DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

START AND s'ror SIGNAL Fon RAILROAD-CARS.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

.Patented Dee. s. 1914..

.Application med rebmaryps, 1914. -seriai No. 817,479.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, RYALL H. CABTMELL. afcitizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, in the c ountyofVVayne and State of Michigan, have invented certainlnew and useful Improvements 'in Start and Stop Signais/for RailroadCars, of which the followingr is a specification. f Y

his invention relates to starting and stopping si nals for railroad trains, and especially to e eetrically-operated trains, each ,individual car of which has its own conductor, while the motorrnan is located in the vestibule of the frontcar. y

The invention has'for one of its objects the provision ofv an improved signal system whereby the motormanma-y receive signals es to starting and stopping, 'at ldifferent pointsl along `the road. i

-The invention has, 'furthermoreVfor its Arises a signalA adapted to'be set into the vstarting vpositicn'l, as`,soon asevery con- .ductor-on the train has signified hisV wish to proceed, it being understood that the omis- `sion' of a, single conductors 4signalwill not set theindicator to its A starting position.

The invention has, also, for its object the, provision of a signal system including an indicator which can beset into and maintained in the startingn positionL'as longas Said circuit is closed, while any interrup-- tion or break in said circuit, no matter from what cause, will lallow said indicator to return to stop A furtherobject of the invention. resides in the provision of means whereby each conductor is. enabled tojverify, for himself, which particular position his own individual circuit-closing device is in, without referring to the device operable by any of the otherA conductors. I Further objects of the invention will hereinafter appear and be particularly defined Ain Athe claims. e p

.The invention has beenclearly illustrated .in the accompanying `'drawings in. which illustrates the controlling memberof the breaker in another position.

Briefly stated, the present system com- I Yprises a signal or' indicator for the motorman which is so organized-with the sections of the operating circuit that, when the starting signal is to be given', the conductor of each car will pull a 'cord to. set the circuit breaker for his car so as to complete the circuit at that'point. Then he has 'done so, he will be informed of this fact, preferably by one or more tell-tale lightswhich will remain burning as long as his circuit breaker remains that condition. In a like manner the conductor of any other ear will have to pull his cord to produce the same effect. From this it will be understoodthat each car, or more properly'- speaking each indi'- vidual conductor, will simply-complete the circuit by Ahis own breaker' without influencing any o f the others, so that consequentlyit 1s necessary that all the circuit breakers vare sition. The lsame effect will be produced by the break of any connection between the cars themselves or .in any of the .wires passing .through the train or, b'yperchance, if the Ytrolley Y iould leave its wire. l

lef rring now to the drawings, A denotes in outline, the first or Ahead car" of a train .which comprises also .a coach B,Vbut

-may contain more, if so desired, all of the coaches behind the headA coach being considered as trailers, while'as a matter o f fact.

under the present system iti is desirablevthat the power connection be vestablished between the trolley wire T and the car A through a trolley pole P and the bus wire WV which extends to Lhelfront of the first car as usual. Connectionslibetween the bus ivire sections as pcrtainingto Vthe different cars are also made in theu'sual manner, as for instance by jinnpersal1-.- The electric current carried by the bus wire V is used for transmitting the signals above described. it bei ng understood that transformers, resistance boxes and the vlike may be. used as required under different conditions:

of service. Y

Leading from the bus wire W lncar-B', 'is

a branch wire w which leads to one member of a pair ot terminals 10, 11, both of which are secured to an insulating block 12 earricd b v a bracket 13 which may be secured in 1i vcd position at any suitable point within the car, preferably at one end thereof, so that the device whereby the make and break of the circuit is established, can be operated by a cord from any point longitudinally of such ear. The other member 11 ,of the above mentioned terminals, is connected with a 'feed wire 1l leading to a series of lamps 15 which are wired in parallel through an electric conductor 16 grounded on the truck of the car, so that when the terminals 10 and 11 are connected, the lamps will be lighted. rl`his electric connection is established by any one of a series of metillic plates 1T set into the periphery of a ro ler 1S made of insulating material and journaled on a stud 19 which is rigidly held in thc bracket 13 above mentioned. This roller 1S is in the present instance provided with fourof these metallic plates 17, and the mechanism for rotating the roller is intermittent by virtue of the employment of an oscillatory lever 20 which carries a pawl 21 adapted to engage successively the teeth of a ratchet wheel 22 secured to said roller. ln the present instance the swinging move-- ment of the lever 'Z0 is limited to 45 degrees, and it willl therefore be understood that when the lever 20 is moved from the position sho'nn in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. '-l, the terminals 10 and 11 will, in the latter position of the roller 18, be disconnected` and the lamps 15 will therefore be extinguished.' The particular purpose of these lamps is that of indicating to the conduc` tor by visible means what the actual condition .of the breaker roller 1S is in, as far as the making or breaking of the indicatorco'ntrolling circuit for the motormans signal is concerned. The latter circuit comprises a branch wire w' which leads to a terminal or brush 23 adapted to be electrically connected with a. brush 24 when the roller 1S is in the. position shown in Fig. Q, both terminals 23 and Z-V being also secured to thi` insulating block l2 in such a manner that no rlictric connectionwill exist between the several contact members carried bv the same. The terminal ll is connected with a `solenoid 1li) tobehereinafter referred to. and thence to a wire 25 which is connectcd by a jumper 26 with a feed wire 27 of the next adjacent or head rar A. This feed wire Z7 leads to the terminal Q3 of the circuit breaking device in the head car, and its companion terminal f2-l is connected through a wire. Q8 with one poli` of an electromaguct Q3), the other pole of which is grounded through a 'wire 30 as shown. It will therefore he evident that when the breaker device in car A is in a positionlike that y,of car B, an electricY connection will be established to energize said electromagnet 29 which therefore will attract an armature lever 31 shown herein as a gong hammer which is retracted away from the gong when the electromagnet 29 is energized,l but will be permitted to drop to strike said gong whenever the circuit is, for any reason, Ainterrupted. In the position illustrated in Fig. 1, the breaker is in 'its disconnected position, and the magnet 29 is therefore non-operatin When, now, the conductor of car A pul s the cord C, the breaker will be moved from the position shown into one corresponding tothat of car B, in which vcase the electromagnet 29 will then become active in movin thearmature 30 into the go position.

ile this movement will naturall produce a click, means may be provide whereby the go signal is visibly given, as or instance b n. light 32 which however.;l my be switche out, when desired,

by the haiiidswitch 33, especially during the Y day time. 4

.The operating lever 20 of the breaker device is movable between a pair. of stops 34 and 35 secured to or fox-min general plate 36 of the bres. er device, the cord C constituting the hand-pulled member operated by the car conductor, while a spring 37 serves to return the lever 20 to its normal position shown in Fig. 2.

From the foregoing it will be understood a part of the that in order to transmit the o ahead signal to the motorman, the brea ers in all the cars of the train will have to be in their circuit-closing position, but any one of the several car conductors, or in fact any passen'- ger on the car, may give a sto out having to consider any otli train, inasmuch as the stop signal is given at once bythe interruption of the starting circuit. It will also be understood that, un'- signal witber car of the' der the system thus far described, one break in the circuit is all that is necessary to give the stop signal, and that when the same v break is re-made, the start signal will be immediately given, without considering` the breaker in any other car. circumstances, such condition may be deti'i'` mental to the safe operation of the train, because, after the train has come to a stop Under some on the signal given by one conductor, passengers may enter or leave the cars con` breaker of car A is moved, to give the stop signal by the interruption of the circuit, the breaker of car B will be similarly set by the return movement of an electricallyoperated device,'such as the movable core 38 of a solenoid 39 which is in circuit with the signal devices in the motormans vestibule of the car. As long as the current flows through the circuit and energizes the solenoid 39, the core 38 thereof will remain in position shown in Fig. 2; but as soon as the flow ot' current is interrupted said core will be shifted into position shown in Fig. 4 by means of a spring 40, this return movement of the core being effected by a spring-actuated pawl 41 operative upon the ratchet 22 above described, to turn the latter for one eighth of a rotation and quickly throwing the roller 18 into position shown in Fig. 4.

The pawl-carrying member of the core is provided with an extension 38 which, when the core is operated by the spring 10, will strike against the stop-pin 34 above described and therefore limit the return movement.

In order to prevent the roller i8 from passing beyond its intended position, a series of notches 42 are provided in its periphery adapted to be engaged by the terminals or brushes 11 and 24 above mentioned It will be noted, by referring to Fig. 2, that, when the lever 2Q is moved toward the left, the brush 23 will be the first to leave the metallic plate 17, and before the other plate 17 on the opposite side of the roller will have disconnected the terminals 10 and 11 which pertain to the light circuit. inasmuch as the breaker in the circuitestablished by the brushes and 24 becomes broken as soon as either of said brushes (23) has left the contact plate 17, and the spring 40 can then immediately act to bring the core to the normal position shown in Fig. 4, it follows that the .increment of the roller 18 will then establish a quick break between the brushes 10 and 11 of the light circuit', regardless of the speed with which the lever 20 is moved.

The operation ust described in connection with the breaker of car A. is just the same in car B, or in fact in any other car of the train. Hence it follows that in order to give the starting sigmal, the breaker in each car will have to be separately set into its make position, before the motorman will receive the go-ahead signal. On the other hand, it it should be desired, that the system as first described, be used, without the solenoid effecting any functions, it will be only necessary to throw the pawl 11 into such position that it will. not operate upon the ratchet 22 in either direction, this condition of the system being illustrated in Fig. 1.

While in the accompanying drawings, I

in said circuit, means for have illustrated two cars, it is evident that the number of trailers can be varied as desired without in any way affecting the op eration ot' the system as a Whole. Likewise it should be understood that each individual car may be wired with a signal at its front end 1n just the same manner as the car A is provided with the same. ln the present drawings the motormans signal has been omitted in the trailer, merely for the sake ot' avoiding confusion. lt should also be understood that the trolley P can be connected with the bus line of any one car Without affecting the operation of the system, and if desired, a single car, as for instance the'one designated by A, may constitute the entire train, in which ease all the change necessary to be made is that of electricall connecting the ends of the bus line and the ir line 27 preferably at the rear end of the car and jumper.

Changes may be made An my improved system, especialiy in the particular construction lot' the breaking mechanism, without departing from the spirit oli the invention.

I claim 1. The combination with an indicator, of an electric circuit therefor, a plurality of breakers connected in series in said circuit, means for moving said indicator into one position when all of said breakers are closed, means for moving said indicator into another position when said circuit is open, and secondary circuits controlled by said breakers respectively, each comprising a tell-tale device for indicating the position of each particular breaker.

The combination withr a pluralitv of vehicles, of an indicator in one of said vehicles, an electric circuit including said indicator and extending through said vehicles, a circuit breaker in each vehicle and included in said circuit,1neans for movin said indicator in one direction when all o? said breakers are closed, means t'or moving said `indicator into another position when any one of said circuit breakers is open, and a tell-tale circuit for each breaker and operable thereby for indicating the open or closed positions ot the same.

3. The combination with a pluralit of vehicles, oi' an indicator in one of sai vehicles, an electric circuit including said indicator and extending through said vehicles, a circuit breaker in each vehicle and included moving said indicator in one direction when all of said breakers are closed, means for moving said indicator into anothe ,1, position when any one of said circuit breakers is open, and means for setting each circuit breaker into its break 7 position by the movement of any other breaker in the circuit.

4. The combination with a plurality of through the intervention of a vehicles, of an indicator in one of said vehicles, an electric circuit including said indicator and extending through said vehicles, a circuit breaker in each vehicle and included in said circuit, means for moving said indicator in one direction when all of said breakers are closed, means for moving said indicator into another position when any one of said circuit breakers is open, and electrically operated devices in said circuit and Coperative with said circuit breakers respectively and operative for setting each circuit breaker into its break position by the movement of any other breaker in the circuit.

5. The combination with a plurality of vehicles, of an indicator in one of said vchicles, an electric circuit including said indicator and extending through said vehicles, a circuit breaker in each vehicle and included in said circuit, *means for moving said indicator in one direction when all of said breakers are closed, means for moving said indicator into another position when any one of said circuit breakers is open, and solenoids, each comprising a movable core and a pawl carried thereby for setting each circuit breaker into its break position by the movement of any other breaker in the circuit.

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

RYALL H. CARTMELL.

Witnesses:

CMAS. F. SCHMELZ, H. D. MACDONALD 

